The Weber Smokey
Mountain Cooker you cooked on in 2008 was essentially the same
product people were cooking on when the WSM was first introduced in 1981. With the
exception of changing some rust-prone steel parts to aluminum and
changing the lid handle from wood to plastic, it was basically the same
product all those years.

It was a great product
that served us well, but for many years Weber fans had been hoping for some
product improvements and innovations. A bigger cooker with greater
cooking capacity, a built-in thermometer, a bigger, more stable water
pan, a better access door, and a charcoal grate that doesn't drop
charcoal into the bottom of the bowl.

More headroom
between the top cooking grate and the lid, and more space between
the top and bottom cooking grates

Heat shield
mounted to the legs under the charcoal bowl protects patio or deck

Improved packaging
protects the product during journey from factory to front porch

Updated owners
manual operating instructions and modern recipes

Detailed Specs

Model 721001 18.5"

Model 731001 22.5"

Height

41-1/2"

48-1/2"

Width

18-7/8"

22-7/8"

Weight

37 pounds

52 pounds

Top cooking
grate

17-1/2"
240-1/2 sq. in.

21-1/2"
363 sq. in.

Bottom cooking
grate

17"
227 sq. in.

20-3/4"
338 sq. in.

Distance
between cooking grates

7-1/2"

9"

Water pan

14-3/8" x 7"
2.5 gallons

18-3/4" x 4-1/4"
3 gallons

Distance between water
pan and charcoal grate

5-3/4"

12-1/2"

Charcoal chamber

14-1/2" x 4-3/4"

17" x 4-3/4"

Charcoal grate

15-1/4"

18-1/4"

Distance between
charcoal grate and bottom of charcoal bowl

4-1/2"

5-1/4"

Lid

18-1/2" OD x 13"
(including handle)
10-1/2" between inside top of lid and top cooking grate

22-1/2" OD x 14-5/16"
(including handle)
11-13/16" between inside top of lid and top cooking grate

Lid damper

One 3" damper with three
3/4" holes

One 4-1/4" damper with
four 3/4" holes

Thermometer

100-350°F, 5°F
increments
1-1/2" stem

100-350°F, 5°F
increments
1-1/2" stem

Thermometer hole in lid

3/8"

3/8"

Middle cooking section

18-3/4" OD / 17-5/8" ID
x 17-1/2"
6" between screw holes

22-7/8" OD / 21-3/4" ID
x 21-1/2"
7-1/4" between screw holes

Access opening

7-1/4" x 10"

12-3/4" x 13-7/8"

Access door

8-1/8" x 11-5/8"

14" x 16-1/4"

Access door knob

3" long

3" long

Charcoal bowl

18-1/2" OD x 10"
(without legs), 12-3/8" (with legs)

22-5/8" OD x 12"
(without legs), 14-1/4" (with legs)

Charcoal bowl dampers

Three 3" dampers with
three 3/4" holes

Three 4-1/4" dampers
with four 3/4" holes

Legs

Three, 11-1/2" x 1-1/2"

Three, 13-1/4" x 2"

Videos on YouTube

Weber was kind enough
to provide a pre-production version of the 22.5" WSM so I could cook on it
and provide feedback. You can watch my comments as I open the box for
the first time and assemble the cooker, and see a comparison between
the old 18.5" WSM and the new 22.5" WSM.

I fired the 22.5" WSM
using the Minion Method and a 9-pound
bag of Kingsford Charcoal Briquets. I used a Weber chimney starter to light 40 briquettes and spread them over the
unlit charcoal, added 3 chunks of apple wood, and put 2 gallons of
water into the pan.

The 6 slabs of ribs
were cooked on the top cooking grate using a Weber rib rack, 4 slabs in
the rack and 2 slabs on either side, flat on the grate.

With all the vents wide
open, it took about an hour for the cooker to rise to 225°F. I was able
to easily control temperature over the next few hours until these ribs
were tender.

You will notice that
there was very little fuel left over after I shut down the cooker. This
may be due to the out-of-round condition exhibited by this
pre-production unit. Having said that, I think this cooker generally
uses more fuel because of its larger size and dampers.

The first 3 photos
below show a comparison of ribs on the old WSM and the new 22.5" WSM.

I fired the 22.5" WSM
using 7 pounds of Duraflame lump charcoal. I spread a hot Weber chimney starter full
of lump over the unlit lump, added 3 chunks of cherry wood, and put 2
gallons of water into the pan.

Three chickens went
onto both the top and bottom cooking grates. The cooker immediately
jumped past 250°F, and even with all the bottom vents fully closed, the
cooker ran in the 260-270°F range for 90 minutes before drifting down to
245-250°F and stayed there 2-1/2 hours until these chickens were done. I
never did open the bottom vents.

The first 2 photos
below show a comparison of beer can chicken on the old WSM and the
new 22.5" WSM.

I fired the 22.5" WSM
using the Minion Method and a 21.6-pound bag of Kingsford Charcoal Briquets. I used a Weber chimney starter to light 50 briquettes and spread them over the unlit charcoal, added 4 chunks of apple wood, and put 2 gallons of
water into the pan.

Three pork butts went
onto both the top and bottom cooking grates. As with the ribs before and
with all the vents wide open, it took almost an hour for the cooker to
rise to 230°F. The cooker ran in the 225-250°F range easily for another
5 hours, but during the remaining 5-1/2 hours the cooker languished
around 200°F, even with all the bottom vents wide open, stirring the
coals twice to rejuvenate them, and having used foil to fill the
out-of-round gaps at the beginning of the cook.

I was able to finish
the butts successfully, but with the cooker temperature drifting below
200°F and with very little fuel left. I need to explore different
methods to see how to get more than 11-1/2 hours of cooking time.

The first photo below
show a comparison of pork butts on the old WSM and the new 22.5" WSM.

My fourth test cook was
another 45 pounds of pork butt. I wanted to see if I could get more than
11 hours out of a big bag of Kingsford. This time I used 2 gallons of
hot water in the pan instead of cool water. It was a calm, warm night
and never went below 63°F outside.

Someone at Weber told
me they got 14 hours of cooking time by starting with a lot of hot
Kingsford, setting the top vent just 3/4 open, and closing all the
bottom vents for the entire cook. So, I spread a full Weber chimney starter of
hot coals over the remainder of a 21.6-pound bag of Kingsford and set
the vents as described above. I used foil to plug the gaps in the
out-of-round condition of the cooker. The meat sat at room temperature
for 1 hour before going into the cooker.

I could not get the
cooker temperature over 200°F. After about 90 minutes of this, I opened
just 1 bottom vent 100% and it ran at 225°F for a long time. Toward the
end of the cook, I had 2 bottom vents open 100%.

Once again, at about 11
hours the cooker was dropping to 200-210°F. The meat was done at 11-1/2
hours. I shook loose the ashes to reveal less than a chimney-full of partial
briquettes in various stages of burning.

I trimmed a few large
areas of fat from each brisket and cooked them using the Minion Method. I used a Weber chimney starter to light 50 briquettes and spread them over the remainder of a 21.6-pound bag of
Kingsford, plus 2 gallons of hot water in the water pan. I did not
refill the water pan during the cook.

I cooked overnight,
from 9:00pm to 11:00am the next morning. It never got below 59°F outside. It took 2 hours for the cooker to come up to 225°F
with all vents wide open. The cooker then ran 225-250°F for the next 6
hours. After that I never measured a temp over 225°F even with all vents
fully open and stirring the coals once.

The brisket on the top
cooking grate reached 185°F after 12 hours of cooking and got foiled and
moved into an empty cooler to rest for a few hours. I moved the brisket
from the bottom grate to the top and cooked for another 2 hours. It only
reached 180°F after 14 hours of cooking, and at this point the cooker
had dropped to 177°F, so I removed it from the cooker.

You can see the monster
smoke ring achieved by the slow ramp-up of cooker temp during those
first 2 hours.

I am coming to the
realization that the 22.5" WSM consumes more fuel in general than the 18.5"
version. Yes, you're potentially cooking more pounds of meat and putting
more water in the pan, and both of those affect fuel usage, but this new
cooker also radiates more heat because of greater surface area, and it
has to heat a larger amount of air inside the cooker, and more air is
drawn through the cooker because of the larger vent dampers. All these
factors affect fuel consumption.

Click thumbnails for larger images.

18.5" WSM

22.5" WSM

More Cooking
Photos

Grilled Skirt Steak
September 10, 2008

Decided to use the 22.5"
WSM as a "Smokey Joe on steroids" to grill skirt steak over lump
charcoal. Delish!

Click thumbnails for larger images.

Visit to
Weber Corporate Headquarters

I was invited to meet
with Weber's R&D and marketing staff at Weber Corporate
Headquarters in Palatine, IL on August 25, 2008 to discuss the new Weber
smokers for 2009. You can read my trip
report here.

Disclosure

The 22.5" Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker shown in this article was provided compliments of Weber-Stephen Products Co. I was neither obligated to post a review of the product nor was I paid to write this article. As always, I retain editorial control over any content I post on my website. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

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